Senior Pastor Mark Stafford

Strong for the Weak – James 1:27, 1 John 3:16-17 

 

James 1:27 says, “ 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Being a part of a church community is a critical part of growing in your faith.  You and I desperately need the body of Christ.  The non-believing people around us in our communities and workplaces are constantly trying to pull us away from Jesus and into the sideways thinking of the culture.  A genuine Christian keeps themselves “unstained from the world.”

We need to press “reset” every week.  We need a time when we can refocus our minds on the things of Christ and realign our hearts with the truths of God’s Word.  At Canyon, we often talk about how the Sunday morning service fuels all the other ministry that happens during the week.

True love and real Christianity is never supposed to end here at church, though.  Church is where our love for one another begins… it’s not where it ends.  As the pastor here, I have the ministry of stirring up.  Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

When you come here, we try our best to encourage you and give you opportunity after opportunity to show the love of Christ in real tangible ways:

  • We encourage you to love and serve your family in a sacrificial way.
  • We encourage you to love and serve those within our own body.
  • We encourage you to display the love of Christ in your work place and to be an ambassador for Jesus right were God has placed you.
  • We encourage you to reach out to others in our community who need help, love, or support.

You have given sacrificially.  You’ve given money, brought in gifts, collected coats, and reached out time and time again!  We are intentionally stirring you up because Christianity only begins at church.  The real test of the genuineness of your faith is what you do with it outside of the church.

The audience that James was writing to loved their religious services.  They assumed that they were right with God because they participated in certain religious activities.  James is putting that assumption to the test.

He wrote in Verse 27 about a religion that is “pure and undefiled before God the Father.”  He challenged the thinking of his readers by suggesting here that the true measure of their faith is not just showing up at church.  Church is an important place of encouragement and teaching, but those who hear the word without doing it are not acting in a way that Christians act.  Religious observances, no matter how piously or reverently they are performed, are completely empty if we don’t practically show real love for others.

Today I want to encourage you to have a more “pure” faith as we consider how to “visit orphans and widows in their affliction.”  Right now in Arizona, there are over 17,000 kids in the foster care system and 5,500 kids are waiting to be adopted out of that system, TODAY.  I’d like to begin today by recalling the story of one kid I knew.  To protect his identity, we’ll call him Matt.

Matt grew up in a home here in Arizona that was used to manufacture drugs.  Matt’s parents made their living off of the sale of dangerous and illegal substances.  His home and his bedroom were often filled with highly toxic chemicals.

One day, his parent’s drug lab was discovered.  The police came in and shut it down.  Matt’s parents were taken to jail and the only home that Matt ever knew was gone.  Scared and confused, he was taken into the foster care system.  As part of that system, Matt was entrusted to the care of a foster family in our church.  He was introduced to Jesus and Matt began coming to youth group.

Matt was regular at church.  We took him on trips.  We trained him to be a leader.  He played on the worship team.  But it would be a lie to say that everything in his life was fine.  His life was unimaginably hard.

He had ongoing medical problems from being exposed to so many chemicals all those years.  We often went to visit him in the hospital.  He also had ongoing emotional issues.  He fought with his foster parents.  He fought with me.  He ran away from his foster home at one point.  I remember going to find him once and I took him to a buffet because I found out that he hadn’t eaten in a while.  In his early adulthood, he spent years sleeping on one friends couch or another.

Walking with Matt through his ordeal was difficult, but he had built some relationships with people at the church who were able to help him.  Let’s fast forward about 15 years.  I found out this week that Matt still hangs out with some of the students who were in the youth group back then.  He has started a chain of restaurants and is an award-winning chef.  He is a success story and the church played a central role in helping him get from living in a drug lab to functioning as a responsible adult.  It was a long journey and Matt’s story isn’t over yet.

The need for Christians to take in orphans in the Verde Valley is staggering and it is our God-appointed duty to take care of this issue.  Our religious services are empty and meaningless of we are unwilling to take care of children in our community who are in need of our help.

We can’t rely solely on secular government agencies to take care of the orphans in our town.  In Yavapai County last year, over 150 kids had to be placed outside of our area because there is a lack of foster homes here.  We need to address the issue ourselves.  James 1:27 gives us a mandate to get involved in some way.

Consider what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  This morning I want to explore four aspects of the kind of love that defines true Disciples of Christ.

#1: Real love is revealed by actions – James 1:27, Matthew 15:6b-9,

James 1:27a says, “27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…”

The Greek word for “pure” (katharos) emphasizes cleanliness while the Greek word for “undefiled” (amiantos) emphasizes freedom from contamination.  Real Christianity is clean and uncontaminated in the eyes of God.  It brings to mind 1 Samuel 16:7b which says, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  Outward appearances are not important to God.  He is concerned with a person’s heart and with their actions.

The Pharisees in James’ day loved to put on outward religious shows of piety.  They were proud of their ceremonies and traditions.  They gravitated to the outward manifestations of religious observances while they missed the greater call to love those in need.

Jesus was hard on those who were outwardly religious while they acted unlovingly to others and indifferently towards God.  Jesus says in Matthew 15:6b-9,

“So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

It wasn’t just the religious elite in the first century that struggled with this issue.  In our day, some people can think that they are honoring God with their lives when, in reality, the only time they even think about God is while they are at church.  The modern Christian church is tempted to draw attention to attendance and buildings instead of drawing attention to sacrificial acts of love and compassion.

Consider these questions:

  • Is a church’s health defined by a large crowd or by compassion for others?
  • Does “undefiled religion” produce beautiful buildings or love for the unlovable?

I think it’s obvious that the way that we love God is wrapped up in the way that we love people, but sometimes you and I both need to be reminded of exactly what God has called the church to do.

True faith is expressed through the capacity to act in the best interest of other people without regard for ourselves.  When a person becomes a follower of Jesus, one of the proofs of his new life is sacrificial love for others.

#2: Real love acts in the best interest of others – James 1:27a, Isaiah 1:11-17

James 1:27a, “27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…”

Some people have read this verse and decided that they need to visit an orphanage or stop by to chat with the widow down the street for a few minutes.  Those things are a great step in the right direction, but the Greek word translated “to visit” implies much more than a quick chat with someone on a Sunday afternoon.  It’s more than showing up at an orphanage once in a while.

“Visit” is embodied by what our church did with Matt, the student I mentioned earlier.  We picked him up for church, went to his concerts, taught him the Word, visited him when he was sick, took him on trips, paid for his expenses, encouraged him to be godly, and loved him when he was being difficult to love.

“Visit” carries with it the idea of doing life together, caring for others and exercising oversight on their behalf:

  • It is being an advocate for those who can’t speak for themselves.
  • It is to help the helpless in whatever way is needed.
  • It is the picture of the church community wrapping around and loving those who are the weak and vulnerable in our community.

If we gather together, sing songs, recite the Lord ’s Prayer, listen to biblical teaching and then ignore those who cannot help themselves, our worship is meaningless.  The Old Testament repeatedly addressed this issue.  Listen to how harshly Isaiah spoke to God’s People when they ignored their role in the community,

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?  says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
17     learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Personally, I don’t want to be guilty of ignoring my responsibility for taking care of vulnerable people right here in our city.  In the early church, the neediest people were the orphans and the widows.  In those days, there was not life insurance, welfare programs or state agencies to address their needs.  Jobs were scarce for both groups and if someone was left without a family, they often found themselves destitute.

Orphans and widows in those days represented the neediest people in the culture, but the principle is supposed to apply to anyone who is unable to help themselves.  Pure faith is loving someone who is unable to show you the same kind of love in return.  It’s a selfless love that helps those who can’t help themselves in the name of Christ.  It is the way that God loves us.

#3: Real love cares for those who can’t help themselves – 1 John 3:16-17

Consider what it says in 1 John 3:16-17, “16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

The battle for the believer does not just involve avoiding evil, but a true disciple is driven to do good.  Love seeks the best interest in others.  That kind of love pushes forward in serving the needs of those who can’t serve themselves.

Christ is our example of perfect, selfless love.  Again, 1 John 3:16, it says, “16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”  Christ is the perfect example of love that puts aside its own interests for the benefit of others.  Christian love always involves seeking the best interest of others and often that pursuit means we will need to sacrifice our time, our emotions, our resources and sometimes our money in the service of other people.

Here’s how the opportunity to show real love often presents itself:  Someone in the body has a need.  There are two conditions that exist that help to determine if you or I should step up to meet that need:

  1. Do I know that the need exists?
  2. Do I have the resources to meet that need?

And then, you just talk about doing it, right? NO WAY – you put love into action and you do something about it.

LIFE APPLICATION: CHRISTIAN LOVE IS LOVE IN DEED AND ACTION – 1 John 3:17-20

Christian love goes far beyond talking about doing loving things.  Love “in word” is the enemy of love “in deed.”  When we love people “in deed,” we act in their best interest in real, practical ways.  When people in the secular world see love in real, practical ways, they are shocked by it.  In a world where everyone is looking out for #1, it is radical to be the kind of person who is genuinely looking out for the best needs of others.

In an article about Foster care at DesiringGod.org this week, the contributor writes about his experience of showing God’s love as a foster parent.  He says,

“…Foster care provides a platform to share the gospel with others. I cannot tell you how many times people have asked us why we are doing this work, and how many times I have been able to share the gospel in reply. It is a natural entryway, as we live in a culture that still thinks caring for abused children outside of the womb is a good thing. We are doing something both the secularist and the religious respect, and as such we can share the gospel with both. And they are far less likely to argue. They may not like what we say, but since most of their arguments are grounded in the supposed hypocrisy of Christians, their pushback is weak at best.”[1]

The opposite reality is also true.  If believers fail to show love for one-another, the world is pretty confused by our lack of caring.  Again, 1 John 3:17 says, “17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”  It is the pinnacle of un-love if a believer has the means to help someone in need and “closes his heart against him.”

Sometimes in the age of multiple government social service agencies, Christians forget their call to take care of the needs of those who are the most vulnerable.  Can we assume that we have no responsibility in the care of the weak because the government is involved?  Consider this fact:  the government doesn’t know how to meet the needs of vulnerable people in the Verde Valley right now and they are asking – even begging – for the church to help.  Galatians 6:10 says “…let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

This month, I want to give you some encouragement and some opportunities to find out about needs in our community and to prayerfully consider what God is calling you to do about it.

Here are four ways to serve that I would like you to consider today:

  1. Backpacks of Hope drive: Doing good can simply be supplying necessities for children going into the foster care system.  We’ve been helping foster kids for years at Canyon through our Backpacks of Hope ministry.  There is a list in your bulletin of items that you can purchase that foster kids in our area need right now.  We will be collecting those items on Feb 26th.
  2. Wrap-Around Team: FOSTER FAMILIES AND WIDOWS.  Foster families in our area need some community support.  Sometimes there is an unexpected placement and they need help putting furniture together.  Sometimes they are in need of meals for a few days.  Sometimes they need someone to help them locate and purchase a larger vehicle.
    Widows contact me occasionally and need help around their homes, they need help with cars and other mechanical items, they need help sorting out finances after their husband passed away or they simply need a ride.
    We are in the process of compiling these needs so we can send them out to a “wrap around team.”  The Wrap around team will be in place to come around orphans and widows in our area to “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.”  There is a list on the back table.  Please sign up on that list if you would like to know about the needs of orphans and widows as we are made aware of those needs.
  3. Kids Ministry: We would love to be a church that can be a sanctuary for foster families, but we need a whole lot more help in our kid’s ministry before that vision can become a reality.  Foster kids need Jesus and Matt was a perfect example of why it’s important to introduce foster kids to the gospel.  They need to learn about the Bible desperately.  We need more help in our efforts to disciple children.
  4. AZ 1.27 meeting on Feb 28. I urge you to go to this meeting event if you don’t currently have a heart for foster families at all.  You need to be made aware of the need.

In the last 5 years, Arizona has seen a 61% increase in the number of foster children in the state system.  The average age of these children is 9 years old and typically they stay in the system for a couple of years before they are placed back home or given a new home.  It is nearly impossible for these kids to understand and cope with the tragic circumstances that led to their removal.  What if our church stepped up to help?!

The opportunity for the church to join together for the sake of our foster kids is here.  It is coming for the first time this month!

To help people know about the needs of our foster families, churches in Northern Arizona are joining together in a movement called AZ 1.27.  So far, this movement includes about 80 churches in Northern AZ including Canyon Bible Church, The Heights, Christ’s Church of Flagstaff, Harvest Bible Chapel of Flagstaff and Redemption Church.

This state-wide network has been highly effective in getting services to foster families in other communities in Northern Arizona and the groundwork is being laid for AZ 1.27 to bring together people in the Verde Valley to help with our foster care and adoption issues here locally.

AZ 127 will be putting together a meeting at the end of the month where all the government agencies and adoption agencies will be represented and explaining the need to the church community for help in the Verde Valley.  There is always a need for more foster families, but there are also a number of other needs as well – ranging from helping with simple household tasks to respite care to being a special advocate for kids in the court system.

This meeting will be on Tuesday night, Feb. 28th from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at the Mountain View United Methodist Church in Cottonwood (901 South 12 th Street).  For more information, visit az127.org

1 John 3:18-20 says, ‘”18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

When we see the capacity in our lives to love like Jesus loved, it has to be supernatural.  In my flesh, I’m only really concerned about myself.  I know that I’m living in the power of the Spirit when I stop thinking about myself and instead I have a genuine concern in regard to the well-being of others.

True Christian love means that we move beyond just talking about doing loving things and we actually do them.  Let’s honor our King by the way we love others!

 

[1] http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/foster-care-for-the-least-of-these